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We’ve all been there at one point. Something that was once new is now old and no longer holds our interest like it used to. For some of us that leads to taking a break or cutting back and finding something else to fill our free time. And sometimes these breaks wind up being much longer than we had originally intended. Many times we fight this feeling tooth and nail, logging in every day only to drive ourselves over the edge of video game fatigue that much quicker. If only the Mists of Pandaria beta was here to save us from content that just isn’t exciting any longer. But sadly we must wait. Anyway this is something I have been dealing with of late so I thought I would share my thoughts and tips on the matter.

Don’t fight it. The moment things start to feel monotonous consider your options and make a decision. This can include a variety of options, so many in fact that I’m not going to bother listing any.

Take a look at your social situation. Are you in a guild? Is your guild inactive? Social interaction can completely alter your gaming experience.

Examine your current game routine. If you’re grinding anything it should come as no surprise that your grind will become very old very fast, be it dailies, pvp or achievements.

Determine if you are feeling outside pressure. I know that I literally can’t enjoy anything if there is something else that I know I should be doing instead. (Like studying for the GRE!)

It can be a tough situation to be in, not wanting to log on for lack of nothing to do, yet you really enjoy your guild and perhaps other friends. I know in my case my guild is active and pretty much the best bunch of people that ever existed. One guy can imitate pretty much every cartoon character voice ever made; our GM is (though I have never heard her say it) a foodie with awesome cooking skills; I could go on and on because they are all that cool and nice. Regardless, when I have to take breaks for real life issues sometimes its hard to log back on. Lately I have just been logging on for raids and that has been working really well for me. I don’t get burned out and I get to hang out with my fellow SiB’ers.

Recently I have decided to start an experiment of sorts regarding my “don’t wanna log on” issues. My hypothesis: I need Purpose. My hunter has progressed to the point where her gear is by no means finished but cannot be improved on by any means other than normal or heroic raiding. Therefore I need a side project, maybe an alt, maybe preparing for the upcoming expansion by collecting as many crafting materials as possible so I can push through a few points with old mats that first day. The sky is the limit when you are willing to try new things and you allow yourself to be creative.

So, I’m not only a big fan of playing video games, I love watching other people play them as well. I have ever since my sister played The Legend of Zelda when I was young. These days, I’m not limited to watching what people in-house might be playing. And this is all thanks to a wonderful website www.twitch.tv . This site’s biggest draw seems to be Star Craft 2 (meh) but you can also catch anything from Skyrim to WoW. And to tell the truth, I can’t get enough of this thing. Sometimes I even watch people play their games more than I play my own.

Twitch has a few simple, yet fantastic features for the viewers. First, you are able to bring up a list of streamers categorized by game. For example, lets say I felt like watching someone play League of Legends because I’m not sure if I want to play it or not. I can type League of Legends in a search field or click a link if its one of the ones provided, and like magic I see the name of everyone streaming that game and a thumbnail image of their stream. Secondly we have the ability to follow streamers. If I should decide that I really like to watch someone’s stream to the point that I want to be able to watch it again, I can click the follow button on their page and be sent an email informing me of when the start streaming. What’s that? You don’t want to be bothered by email? Well, you can turn that option off in your free account’s options and you will still be able to easily see if someone you are following is streaming when you bring up the Twitch homepage and click the link that takes you to a list of all live streams that you are following. There was another feature that I thought was pretty cool, but that thought has apparently escaped my brain. I will edit this post should I be able to capture it again.

Cool features aside, I love this website because as I said before its a great way to get a good feel for a lot of the games out there and meet some cool people who are out there. Even with a game like Skyrim, being able to watch other people play has taught me so much about playing the game (partially because I am too proud and stubborn to ask for help for fear of looking stupid). I was so excited to find out that sheathing your weapons stopped guards from attacking you in some cases! Though, my knowledge about the various games I have watched being streamed isn’t limited to just watching the gameplay. Most, if not all, of the people that I am following there are extremely friendly and helpful when time allows. In the future, I hope to go into more detail about some of the awesome gamers I follow there.

I remembered the other thing! Everything someone streams on Twitch is recorded and is listed in the videos tab on their page. Usually about a day after they streamed it.

Streams I watch:

Rainicorn is a kick ass woman who plays nearly everything. She’s cute as a button too, but don’t let that fool you. She is knowledgable and is no stranger to playing hard modes.

Pokket with her blue hair and informative commentary is like an up and coming rock star of the gaming world. She plays mostly SWTOR, WoW, and LoL. She also makes guides.

Lore is “the guy with the hair” from Tankspot.com. WoW is of course the game he is married to, but he also plays some others on the side such as SWTOR, LoL, APB and recently the entire Mass Effect series with the first run through as renegade and the second as paragon.